


I Just Thought

by possiblyobsessed



Series: IronDad and SpiderSon + the Avengers + Ignoring Infinity War [5]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Fluff, Gen, Irondad, Peter Parker & Shuri Friendship, Peter Parker is a Little Shit, Peter keeps giving people long names in an attempt to be polite, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, spiderson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-13
Updated: 2019-01-06
Packaged: 2019-09-17 01:11:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16964895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/possiblyobsessed/pseuds/possiblyobsessed
Summary: People are coming forward all the time saying they are/have Tony Stark’s child. Others are sure that he has a child out there. It’s only natural that when he starts hanging out with a child everyone assumes Peter is his. He’s only slightly offended that the people close to him believe it.OrFive times someone thought Peter was Tony’s biological child and the one time someone knew he wasn’t.Includes a little bonus chapter.





	1. 1

Walking through Stark Industries was something Pepper had always enjoyed. She liked how clean and in place everything looked. She enjoyed the way everyone had a place and that everyone seemed to enjoy said place. It was nice to walk the R&D department and see everyone working hard and improving projects that were the life and backbone of the company.

Her favourite part of it was that it was something she and Tony shared. That she could say in all honesty that it was something they had built up together. And that he would say the same. To her at least. The thought of Tony had brought a smile to her face, but it was one that faded quickly into a frown. Tony was spending more time than ever in his lab, with the exception of the months following his return to America from the Ten Rings, locked away from the world and in no shape to be in the spotlight. It was a problem that had really picked up after Sokovia and it worried Pepper more than anything else. Prior to the events in the small country Tony had been getting better, he spent more time sleeping and less time in the labs. He spent more time with Pepper. She didn’t want to sound selfish, but it was somewhat unsettling when you partner wanted to spend more time with robots than with you.

Also, she knew what his coping mechanisms were like and there was no way that she was letting him fall into those again.

As it would happen, she was actually heading to the labs to find her boyfriend. To make sure he was doing alright and to get a second opinion on whether or not she should present the new Stark Phone model at the press conference in Tokyo she would be attending. She wouldn’t be asking Tony to attend, he was having a well deserved break. She would, however, ask Rhodey to keep an eye on him while she was gone. She felt best knowing there was someone there for him, even if it couldn’t be her.

“Which lab is Tony in, Friday?”

“Boss is in his private lab,” the AI replied.

Pepper frowned, hoping she hadn’t been locked out again, “And am I allowed in?”

“He’s asked that you be the only person with access.”

She smiled. That was a nice thing to hear. She turned a corner and headed into an elevator. All it took was a scan of her card and she was on her way to the uppermost lab of the tower. Where, if she had to admit it, all the coolest stuff was developed. When she got to the lab she typed in the access code and opened the door, coming into full sight of what could only be described as chaos. She immediately noticed three things.

One, there was equipment lying around everywhere. Blueprints scattered over tables. Empty coffee mugs numbered almost as many as discarded tools. There was a pile of fire hydrants, which she assumed were courtesy of Dum-E. There were pieces of Mark 3000 and something lying around. She sighed. There was hardly a path which she could take to walk over to the desk where Tony was because so much debris (it looked kind of like webs?) scattered the ground. Pieces of paper scattered the ground, in greater numbers closer to the walls, and all looked as though they had water damage. It was a weird thing to see, because normally, no matter how stressed, Tony loved to keep his lab neat. He like everything to have a place and everything to be in its place. And currently it was not.

Two, Tony was wearing the same clothes he had been when she last saw him. That was Tuesday. Today was Friday. The get up also happened to be one he’d never worn before, which made everything all the more odd. It was plain black tracksuit pants that were old and tattered and an Iron Man shirt Nat had jokingly gotten him years back. The clothes looked almost as messy as the lab did and nothing like how the public got to see Tony.

Three, he was almost asleep, his head dropped every so often only to immediately shoot back up and his eyes were droopy and ringed with black from tiredness. Another cup of coffee lay on the table in front of him and he appeared to be loosely holding it. It was upsetting to see because that meant he was really, really tired since he didn’t normally fall asleep in the lab under any circumstance.

Pepper cautiously made her way over to Tony and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, leaning down to place a gentle kiss on his temple.

“You know your bed would be more comfortable than a lab bench,” she whispered.

“Been busy…”

“Go get some sleep. I’ll pack this away,” Pepper instructed.

Tony looked up at her all bleary eyed, “Leave it out. It doesn’t need to be packed up.”

Pepper looked at him sceptically but nodded, “Off you go.”

After watching Tony walk out she turned back to his mess of a work bench. She knew better than to touch anything, but she moved the coffee cup closest to the computer, just to be sure it wouldn’t spill. And then the computer caught her eye and her stomach dropped.

On the holographic screen was something she had failed to notice – the picture of a young boy. The projection that Tony had been studying appeared to be a school record. One for almost fifteen year old Peter Parker. Pepper gave the screen a quick scan and sighed. This was okay, this was okay, this was okay. She had dealt with situations like this before. Granted, not in recent years, but they had once been in abundance. A simple DNA test and the trouble would be over. And Tony would be able to sleep again.

What really captured Pepper’s attention, though, was the photo. She wouldn’t have picked the kid out and said, “Oh, he looks like Tony Stark”, but with the knowledge that someone was trying to say he was Tony’s son she could definitely see the similarities. Especially around the eyes. And she’s cleaned up for plenty of brunettes over the years. She sighed. She seemed to be doing that a lot today.

Hours later Pepper found herself in Tony’s room, ready for a conversation she hoped wouldn’t upset him. She sat on the edge of the bed and waited for the man to re-emerge, happy with the obvious signs that he had indeed slept. She smiled at Tony when he walked out of the bathroom. Time to address the issue on hand.

“So, the boy you were looking at on the computer?” she prompted. She’d asked Friday about it and knew, from the amount of time he’d spent looking through the child’s ‘private’ information, that it had been more like stalking than looking.

“Oh, you noticed that. What do you think? Personally, I think he looks very interesting,” the man replied.

“I can call the lawyers and get them on it immediately, you don’t need to worry about it anymore.”

“Call the lawyers? Why would you do that?” Tony said, looking at her in confusion.

Pepper narrowed her eyes slightly, “We’ve had plenty of cases like this before. It’s nothing the lawyers can’t handle.”

“I don’t think we’ve had anything like this before,” Tony replied.

The couple stared at each other for a moment, both waiting for answers.

“Tony, this isn’t hard to deal with I promise. Just a couple of DNA tests and we can prove he’s not yours, like we have with all the others,” Pepper explained, surprised at her own patience.

“He’s not mine.”

“I know, but someone wants everyone to believe he is. And they’ve probably got a good cover to. You had some wild nights at the California conference fifteen years back,” Pepper continued.

“No,” Tony said, “No, no. He isn’t mine. No one’s saying he is.”

“Why else would you be looking at a child?”

“He’s Spider-Man…” Tony said, as if that was explanation.

“Who?”


	2. 2

Over the years, the many, many years, Rhodey had decided that it was best to not question Tony. But he was really, really questioning why his best friend had driven him to a high school in the middle of Queens. When Tony had told him they were going out, he figured it was for a late lunch or that they would be checking out some new science craze. Instead, he had been waiting outside the front of a science and technology school for twenty minutes. Rhodey watched his best friend, who in turn watched the school doors.

Rhodey sighed, “Tony, is there a reason why we’re here? Outside a high school?”

“Yeah, we’re waiting for the kid.”

The doors of the school burst open and people started to pile out. Knowing he wasn’t going to receive a more thorough explanation from Tony, Rhodey waited to see ‘the kid’. All at once a boy was climbing into the back, hidden by his ratty, blue backpack. It was only another moment before Rhodey was greeted by large brown eyes and a mess of brown curls.

“Woah,” the boy said, “You’re Colonel James Rhodes. You’re War Machine. You’re Iron Patriot.”

“War Machine will do,” Tony cut in.

The boy nodded, “This is so cool. I can’t believe I’m actually meeting you. Woah. Wow. Okay, hi!”

“So, you’re the kid,” Rhodey said, shocked that a child had just climbed into Tony’s car and started talking.

“Yeah, well, it’s Peter actually, but I guess you can call me the kid if you want. You know what, that’s totally cool, because I am a kid. I mean, I’m fifteen. But May says that makes me a kid.”

“May?” Rhodey inquired.

“My aunt. She was supposed to pick me up today. But Mr. Stark is taking me to get ice cream instead, because May has to work. And I guess you’re coming to, which is awesome.” Peter blabbered. 

Rhodey nodded. But he was hardly listening anymore. Who was the child’s mother? Why did he call Tony ‘Mr. Stark’? When had Tony decided to become the fatherly type? What did Pepper think about this? Why was he only finding out now? Why was neither person in the car explaining anything to him? Was it worth asking Peter, or would he be as good at avoiding questions as Tony?

After ice cream, Rhodey, Tony and Peter had all headed back to the compound. Being that it was (quote Peter) officially the start of the weekend, Peter was staying the next two days. He and Tony had disappeared to the labs immediately, which left Rhodey to think about the whole thing. 

Of all the things he had expected to happen today, Tony taking him to meet his son had been so far down on the list it wasn’t even, well actually it wasn’t even considered, the idea had been so stupid until today. It still seemed kind of stupid. He could remember times when Tony had sworn up and down that he had never fathered a child. Times when he had said he never wanted a child and that being near children just wasn’t something he enjoyed.

Of course, Rhodey had been around long enough to know the last two were false. He could remember days when he and Tony, young and naïve, had talked about their futures. Tony had wanted kids then. He could remember offhanded comments over the years that implied that Tony wanted children. He had seen the joy on his friends face when little kids approached him for autographs or teens asked him about his work. He had always been able to see Tony’s mood lighten when there was children around.

And so, maybe it wasn’t that Tony was so happy around the child that surprised him. He had just never expected that Tony’s first claim was also false.

Well, there was only one thing to do now. He had to get to know Peter. He had to be the best uncle ever, obviously. It wasn’t like he had much competition (was Happy shockingly good with teens? He would have to look into that) but he could still prove it to himself. When Tony and Peter emerged from the lab Rhodey jumped at his opportunity.

“I’m taking Peter to the park,” he announced as he stood up.

He thought for a moment that Tony would say no. His grip had tightened slightly on the young boys shoulder and he was giving Rhodey a ‘what do you think you’re doing’ look. Peter, on the other hand, looked like he was going to faint.

“Really?” Peter asked.

“Yup. I want to get to know ‘the kid’,” Rhodey said, looking more at Tony than Peter.

“Yes!” Peter cheered.

“No,” Tony deadpanned, “You’re supposed to spend the afternoon with me.”

Peter groaned, “C’mon man! Mr. Rhodes War Machine Rhodey Iron Patriot wants to spend time with me, you can’t not let me.”

“The kid’s right,” Rhodey agreed, “You can’t not let him.”

Tony glared at his best friend, “Fine. Dinner’s at seven, be back by then.”

—-

Rhodey and Peter didn’t end up spending that long at the park, it turned out seven o’clock was closer than they had thought. For the little while they were there they spent the whole time finding dogs to pat. Peter, Rhodey discovered, really liked dogs.

The stand out thing Rhodey discovered, however, was that Peter talked. A lot. In fact he didn’t stop. By the time they were walking home the pair had talked about everything from what Peter was doing at school to what the best ice cream flavours were to the efficiency of Rhodey’s leg braces. It was clear Peter had a brilliant mind and Rhodey knew he would have inherited it from Tony. 

Speaking of, the one topic they hadn’t talked about was Tony. And Rhodey really wanted to, because since meeting Peter the questions had not left his mind. Right now he really wanted to know how Peter and Tony found each other.

By the time they had gotten back to the Compound and were waiting in the kitchen for Tony, Rhodey decided the best approach would be a direct one. 

“So,” he started, immediately gaining Peter’s attention, “When did you and Tony…” well this was more awkward than he thought it would be.

“Meet?” Peter asked. Rhodey nodded, “Um, like five months ago.”

Interesting. Peter and Tony met around the same time as the Accords became an issue. Now Rhodey could see why his best friend had forgotten to tell him about his son. Life had been pretty hectic at the time, and then with moving day and the whole Vulture ordeal, well Tony had had a lot on his mind.

“And that was the same time you found out he was your dad?” Rhodey asked.

Peter choked. He actually choked. He stared at Rhodey wide eyed and then began to cough up his water. The shock was evident on his face, as well as a slight bit of horror, as he began to splutter our broken sentences.

“No… I’m not… no… no.”

Rhodey was more confused than he had been all day. In fact, his level of surprise had increased tenfold and he hadn’t known that was possible. “Then how come you two are hanging out?”

“Oh,” Peter recovered slightly, but now he was whispering as though he was going to say something conspirational, “Well, I’m Spider-Man. We met in Leipzig.”

Rhodey was stumped. Spider-Man was a kid? “Explains why you think Star Wars is old, Spider-Kid.”

Peter frowned, but didn’t get to retaliate because Tony walked in, “Dammit Pete, how hard is it to keep a secret?”

“Well he thought I was your son!” Peter spluttered.

“WHAT?” Tony shouted, turning to his friend. Rhodey shrugged, “YOU THOUGHT I HAD A KID AND DIDN’T TELL YOU? C’MON RHODEY, YOU CAN’T BE SERIOUS!”

“WELL YOU NEVER GAVE ME ANY OTHER REASON!”

“I CAN’T BELIEVE IT. PEPPER THOUGHT THE EXACT SAME THING. HE DOESN’T EVEN LOOK LIKE ME. IT’S LIKE EVERYONE HERE THINKS I’M IRRESPONSIBLE AND I DON’T KNOW WHY WE’RE SHOUTING!”

“I didn’t mean to make you guys fight,” Peter whispered.

Both adults turned to him, “It’s not your fault,” they assured him in unison.

Peter nodded and silence fell. Everyone took some time to think. Peter worried that he was being to clingy and this incident was going to make Tony stop wanting to see him. Also, Pepper thought he was Tony’s son? Tony thought about why everyone kept thinking he was Peter’s father. Sure, he’d never had a mentee before, but he thought their mentor-mentee relationship was pretty obvious. Rhodey thought about how a kid was Spider-Man, he’d only known Peter for an afternoon, but he definitely seemed the superhero (and stubborn) type. He was also sure he would be seeing more of Peter.

“I’m still going to be the best uncle ever,” Rhodey mumbled.

Tony glared at him, but Peter grinned which more than made up for it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aah, thank you all so much for the support on the first chapter! I love you guys.  
> Anyway, it’s probably obvious, but this chapter is also set before the other fics in the series. The following chapters are all set after the other fics.  
> Hope you all enjoyed.


	3. 3

“Come ooooooon,” Wanda begged.

“No.”

“Stop being grumpy Tony,” Nat told him, “Vision is coming. Everyone else is going to be there, except Rhodey, who’s only going if you do. Peter and Pepper are welcome.”

“Pepper said she couldn’t come,” Tony argued.

Everyone in the room turned to the woman in question, “I said I would stay and keep everything under control, because I think you should go,” Pepper said to Tony.

Tony looked around the kitchen. Everyone around him, bar Peter who had kept quiet, had spent the last hour trying to convince him that he should go with them to Clint’s for the weekend. That was a lot of glaring eyes on him, but he would prefer to stay in his labs with Peter for the weekend. What was he going to do at a farm for a weekend? Why did he care if it was a good opportunity to spend time with Clint and Scott. He’d met Scott like three times, and Scott had an unexplained vendetta against Starks. He scanned the kitchen and tried to figure out who would have a go at convincing him next. Sam opened his mouth and Tony sighed.

Sam held up his hands, “I just think it would be good for Peter to hang out with people his own age.”

Peter perked up, “Mr. Hawkeye’s kids are my age?”

“Yeah, Cooper’s like ten,” Sam said.

Peter glared at him.

Tony looked at Peter. Maybe Peter would enjoy the farm. And maybe it would be good for Peter to do something other than spend his weekend in the lab. They could hang out in the lab any weekend, anyway. And that was why he chose to go to the farm. It was definitely not because he had started to think he might like to. Definitely not.

“Fine.”

Everyone cheered. Tony frowned.

—-

Peter managed to sleep the entire car trip. Two minutes in he laid his head on Tony’s shoulder and he was knocked out for the rest of the trip. Luckily for Tony it was Rhodey sitting by his other side and Wanda and Vision in the front of the car, so no one annoyed him the whole time. The original plan had been to take the quinjet, but it was halfway through the process of being covered by retroflective panels. Everyone really wished timing had been better, because the quinjet was both faster and more comfortable than a car.

They pulled up next to a car that was already there and the car Steve had driven pulled up on their other side. Everyone began to pile out of the cars. Tony gently shook Peter’s shoulder. 

“Mmm wha?” Peter mumbled as his eyelids fluttered slightly.

Tony grinned and shook his shoulder a bit more firmly. How did this kid manage to be so adorable? 

“I wanna sleep, Dad,” Peter groaned.

Tony laughed, but his heart swelled. He would never get used to Peter calling him dad. “We’re here, buddy.”

Peter was red from embarrassment as he climbed out of the car. Tony couldn’t understand why Peter still got so embarrassed after all this time. He threw his arm around Peter’s shoulder and led him towards the door.

The exterior of the house was exactly how he remembered it. It was plain and well put together, and surprisingly pleasing to the eye. It was the surrounding nature that Tony liked more though. He could tell by the awe on Peter’s face that he liked the house too. He was suddenly very glad that he’d agreed to come.

Tony pushed open the front door and stepped in right after Peter. Inside was not quite so put together, there was toys and people everywhere. Conversation stopped as Clint, Laura, Scott and the woman with Scott all stared at them. Or, more precisely, Peter. It struck Tony then that he had never mentioned Peter to any of these people and they are probably all shocked he had a fifteen year old boy with him (because everyone else has been).

“You’ve got a really nice house!” Peter squeaked.

Tony sighed. Knowing his son, that was supposed to be an introduction. He clapped Peter’s shoulder, “Laura, it’s lovely to see you again thanks for the invite,” Laura nodded, “Everyone, this is Peter. Pete, this is Laura, Clint, Scott and… sorry, I don’t think we’ve met.”

The woman smiled, “Hope Van Dyne.”

“I’m Peter,” the boy squeaked out. Tony bit back a laugh and he could see that Rhodey had to do the same. Hope smiled.

Clint decided to save Peter from the awkwardness, “Nice to meet you Peter, those are my kids, Cooper, Lila and Nathaniel,” he pointed to each of them as he said their name, “and that’s Scott’s daughter, Cassie.”

Peter smiled gratefully. “Thanks Mr. Hawkeye sir,” He headed over to where all the kids sat on the floor and picked up and action figure.

“Hi,” Cassie said.

None of the kids stopped talking after that.

—-

It didn’t go unnoticed by anyone how good Peter was with the younger children. He let all of them speak and went along with whatever they said. He didn’t even complain when they drew a moustache one his face so that he matched his dad (Rhodey had laughed his arse off(okay, everyone had)). He played whatever game they wanted, and was currently it in a very serious game of tag.

Tony stood up from the table all the adults were at and called Peter over. Peter jogged over to him. 

“What’s up?”

Tony licked his thumb and rubbed some dirt off Peter’s face.

Peter looked horrified, “What the heck, dude?”

At the same time Tony seemed to realise what he had done, “Oh my god.”

Peter gave Tony another odd look and then turned and ran back to his game. Tony turned around and was met by the varying degrees of shock and amusement on everyone else’s faces.

“I’m gonna go get some water,” he grumbled and walked inside.

It hadn’t gone unnoticed by Clint and Scott how Tony kept an eye on Peter the entire time, even though it was obvious he was entirely safe. Clint was just really surprised that Tony had a son. Scott was surprised to see the softer side of the man, maybe he was starting to like Stark, but he wouldn’t admit. It was safe to say that Clint and Scott had made their decision a lot earlier that day, but now that Tony had gotten up and gone inside the opportunity had presented itself. They got up to follow him.

Nat sighed, “Should we tell them?”

“Peter isn’t really related to Tony is he?” Hope asked.

“Nope,” Wanda said, “But they are father and son.”

Hope seemed to understand and Steve said, “Let them figure it out, we had to.”

Rhodey laughed, “You’re cruel, Steve.”

—-

Inside, a loud clattering echoed behind Tony, who was getting himself a glass of water. He turned around to see Clint and Scott, the latter of whom was attempting to subtly push plastic cups back upright. Tony could almost understand Clint following him, maybe he wanted a private talk. He and Clint used to have some pretty interesting conversations back in the day. But why Scott?

“So,” Clint clapped his hands together, “Until today we thought we were the only dads on the team, and then you showed up with Peter! Which is great, and because of it we want to invite you to join the Dadvengers with us. Get it, because we’re dads and Avengers.”

Tony raised a brow and looked at Clint, “Are you even still on the team?” Then he turned his gaze to Scott, “Were you ever even on the team?”

Did Scott think earlier that he might possibly like the Stark? Nevermind, because he definitely didn’t, “Look man, we can uninvite you from our super secret club.”

“Mhm,” Tony hummed, “And what do you do in this super secret club?”

Scott grinned, “We meet up for tea parties and talk about how amazing our children are, how rewarding it is to be parents, we share gossip about the others and about the kids at our kids schools and we-”

“Tell each other all our secrets,” Clint cut in, “Because some of us thought we were the only ones with a secret family and are really desperate to know how others managed to hide their secret child for sixteen years from the public and their friends.”

Tony, who had just taken a sip of water, coughed slightly, “I didn’t think Cassie was sixteen?”

“She’s not,” Scott frowned.

“Oh! You mean Peter! Didn’t anyone tell you, we met like a year ago.” Tony grinned at seeing the dumbfounded looks on their faces, “Yeah, he started off as my protégé of sorts and we got closer, now I consider him my son.”

When Scott nodded like the universe had been explained to him Tony figured that was just a Scott thing to do. Clint looked slightly embarrassed, but it didn’t really make that big a difference, because the invitation was still open.

—-

The rest of the weekend was surprisingly fun. Tony was finally starting to enjoy the presence of the others and Laura Barton was a brilliant mediator. Scott was surprisingly fun and Peter and Hope got along really well. Most importantly, Peter finally managed to get the permanent marker off his face on Monday morning as Tony drove him to school. And it was no ones business whether or not Tony joined the Dadvengers (he did).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone for their support, it means the world to me.  
> So, we are back to being set after the other fics in the series. There’s so many characters in this chapter! Sorry if any of you’re favourites missed out, but I just couldn’t involve everyone.  
> In other news, I finally got a profile picture. I also made an Instagram account if anyone’s interested - it’s multi fandom and will mostly just be textposts but whatever - it’s also called possiblyobsessed.


	4. 4

Peter had actually jumped with excitement when Tony told him they were going to Wakanda for weekend. He had called Shuri on the kimoyo beads she had given him and they had talked for three hours, even though they would be seeing each other in four days. He also hadn’t stopped talking about how excited he was, and Tony couldn’t blame him, he’d been excited the first time he went. Very excited.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t so excited this time. It had been decided that since all the Avengers were on good terms again it was the right time to do this. To go and visit Bucky.

It wasn’t that Tony didn’t like him. He wasn’t an idiot, he could understand that the Winter Soldier and Bucky Barnes were different people. He didn’t blame Bucky for it. Still, he was sure part of him would always resent the man, he hated it, but he also knew it. Tony could admit, it was because he didn’t want to accept the truth. It was so much easier to pretend his actions that day were his anger at Bucky for killing his parents. It had taken a long time to realise, and even longer to admit to himself - his actions were really caused by Steve’s betrayal.

But if he could stand to be in the same room as Steve, surely he could be in the same room as Bucky.

Even so, as he stood on the quinjet with Steve, Nat, Sam, Rhodey and Peter not even Peter’s infectious happiness could cheer him up. He wasn’t looking forward to this weekend.

—-

After how Peter jumped around the whole trip and stood near the window so he could see everything the others were sure that when they landed he would sprint to wherever Shuri was. He didn’t though, instead Peter took about two steps off the quinjet and stopped. He was still for a moment and then did a three-sixty spin to see everything. Everyone saw how his jaw hung open.

Tony laughed and threw an arm around Peter’s shoulder, “It’s quite the place isn’t it?”

The group of six walked to the palace. The whole trip Peter couldn’t stop looking around. Small children came and watched the foreigners from behind houses and trees. A few braver children walked up and waved. 

The walk to the palace was only short and T’Challa and Shuri waited out the front for them. By the look on T’Challa’s face, Shuri had also been very talkative the past few days.

“PETER!”

“SHURI!”

The teens ran up and hugged each other. Tony and T’Challa grinned at each other, the kids were just too cute.

T’Challa spread his arms, “Welcome to Wakanda.”

T’Challa began to lead the group through the palace as Sam explained why Wanda and Vision weren’t there, “They decided to spend a weekend alone. We told them to stay in their rooms.”

Peter eyes widened comically. 

They walked through the palace slowly so as to appreciate it. Shuri explained to Peter what every room was used for, and T’Challa took the time to say hello to anyone else who walked passed them. Tony and Rhodey were watching Peter, finding amusement in his reactions to everything. It was helping Tony forget what was coming up.

They reached the labs, where Bucky was waiting, far too quickly. The man in question scanned the group that had just walked in, he had expected he would know everyone but he didn’t recognise the young boy with them. Bucky walked forward and hugged Steve, he greeted Natasha and nodded at Sam. He meant to smile at Tony and Rhodey, he swears, but it came out as more of a grimace.

T’Challa, ever the leader, gestured to the door to their left, “You two can talk in there.”

Bucky nodded. Tony did as well, but before he could head in to the room the kid Bucky didn’t recognise grabbed his arm, “Are you sure you’re going to be alright?”

Tony smiled softly and ruffled his hair, “I’ll be fine, Pete. But if you think it takes too long you can come in.” 

The boy, Peter, nodded, “Okay, Dad.” But there was still worry in his eyes.

Bucky’s a little surprised, he didn’t know Stark had a son. As they enter the room and close the door Tony is a little surprised to, Barnes seems to be even more awkward about this than he is. It’s oddly comforting. The air seemed thicker in this room, and Tony kept reminding himself Bucky was not going to hurt him.

“So,” Bucky says, Tony who was looking in the other direction jumped slightly, “I’m sorry.”

Tony looked at Bucky as he tried to take it all in. Bucky was rolling back and forth on his heels. Tony can’t find it in himself to be angry. “Yeah, okay.”

—-

Peter paced around the whole time Tony and Bucky were in the other room. Not even Shuri’s attempts to show him things in the lab could calm him down.

Nat, who watched him the whole time, was taken back to weeks ago when Tony did the same thing while Peter was locked up in a hospital room. She was glad they found each other, that they cared so much about one another.

When they finally emerge from the other room, both Tony and Bucky are surprisingly composed. Peter immediately met Tony’s eyes with his own big brown ones and Tony smiled at him. Peter grinned.

“Finally!” Shuri exclaimed, “Peter, would you like to go look around the labs now?”

“Sure,” he said.

Shuri led Peter out of the room and Peter quickly stopped and hugged Tony and then continued to follow Shuri. “BUCKY COME WITH US,” She shouted as she left the room. 

Bucky shrugged, “I’ll see you all later.”

Rhodey and Sam almost laughed at how jealous Steve looked.

—-

Peter was particularly impressed by the remote driving system. He asked dozens of questions and Shuri happily answered every single one. Bucky listened in as well, but he didn’t understand quite as well. He also couldn’t really grasp why you would need to drive a car without actually being in it.

No matter how many times Peter asked, Shuri maintained that he could not drive it. Bucky was curious as to what Peter had done that warranted the reaction.

Even though he looked around the whole lab Peter kept going back to the car, “It’s just so cool, Shuri! I mean, the rest of the world couldn’t even imagine it. They think flying cars are cool, and they are, but this is way cooler!”

Shuri laughed at Peter’s excitement. 

“You know,” Bucky said, “You’re grandfather promised flying cars. I saw one of his attempts. Do they exist now?”

So Peter probably should have realised then, but in his defence he never really knew any of his grandparents. It was entirely possible to him that this could be true.

“There’s a few I guess, but they aren’t a big thing. Anyway, which grandfather?” Peter really should have realised it then.

“The one I, well the Winter Soldier…” Bucky went quiet. Suddenly he realised it might sound stupid to say, “the one the Winter Soldier killed.”

Peter’s eyes widened, “I think we’re talking about different grandfathers, Mr. White Wolf Mr. Barnes Bucky Sir.”

Shuri cackled, but Bucky looked bewildered.

“Oh, Bucky,” she laughed as she slung an arm around Peter, “Let me explain the story of Baby Stark here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! I’m so happy I finally got to write some Bucky (and Shuri and Peter).  
> Anyway, the Tony and Bucky part might seem short, but I honestly never thought Tony was that angry at Bucky.   
> Once again, thanks to everyone who has supported this work!


	5. 5

Peter sat in the corner of the kitchen and watched Steve over the top of his book so he could pretend he wasn’t watching Steve. He knew Steve knew he was watching him though. 

Although the ex-Rogues has now spent a considerable amount of time at the Compound and Peter had gone on trips with them, he hadn’t actually talked to Steve that much. Plus, no matter how many times Tony told Peter he was fine with him talking to the other Avengers, Peter still felt guilty (or maybe it was angry?) every time he spent too much time around Steve. He tried to convince himself that he wouldn’t get along with the super soldier anyway.

Peter slowly munched on his toast as Steve made himself bacon and eggs. The bacon seemed to go well enough, but the egg caused a disaster. The first egg cracked perfectly, but as Steve moved to chuck the egg shell away he knocked the second egg with his elbow.

Peter and Steve watched in horror as the second egg began to roll and knocked the third egg. Before either could do anything there was two cracked eggs on the floor.

Steve groaned, “Why has God abandoned me?”

“Mood.” Peter mumbled.

The two heroes made eye contact and Steve grinned. It was unusual for him to say something like that and have someone agree. Peter was laughing because that was such a young person thing to say and Steve struggled to use a phone.

Once Peter had recovered he walked over to where Steve was with the intentions to help clean up. However, he never made it because an alarm started to blare.

“Security Breach,” Friday announced, “An unidentified vehicle above the south lawn.”

Steve dropped the paper towel he was holding and looked at Peter, who seemed to be muttering about ‘useless Spidey senses’, “Suit up.” 

—-

When Peter arrived at the south lawn of the building there was a large ship about thirty meters up. Tony, Rhodey, Nat and Vision were already there, Steve sprinted out just after him and Sam and Wanda ran out just before the huge craft landed. Peter stared in shock, it was his first time seeing a spaceship.

He didn’t get to admire the incredible technology for long because the door opened. Peter followed suit when everyone else lifted their weapons. But he had to stand on his toes to see what had actually happened. Was that Loki?

“Lower your weapons friends,” a voice boomed, “Loki is on our side.”

Thor, Bruce Banner and a woman that no one recognised stepped out behind Loki. The shock on everyone’s face was indescribable. Peter would have taken a photo of how ridiculous they all looked, only his own jaw had dropped so he probably looked the stupidest. After a moment shock started to turn scepticism. People’s gaze turned to Bruce.

Bruce nodded, “Loki is… better. He helped us.”

Weapons were hesitantly lowered, although Nat’s hands didn’t leave her guns.

“What’d you do?” The woman asked.

“He tried to subjugate humanity,” Bruce informed her.

“Huh,” the woman nodded, “Of course you did.”

Loki gasped, “You’re supposed to shocked.”

The Avengers watched the interaction in silence. There really was no such thing as a normal day for them. At least it was some Asgardians, a stranger and Bruce, not aliens.

Thor clapped the woman on the back, “This is Brunhilde, she’s a Valkyrie.” Everyone stared blankly, “We have some explaining to do. The past two years were eventful.”

“Yeah, we’ve got quite the story too.” Steve mumbled.

Tony lead everyone back inside and the Iron Man suit retracted around him as they walked. Sam and Wanda watched Peter, who was, as always, a great source of amusement. The teen looked entirely gobsmacked as he looked at Thor, then turned his attention to Bruce, then Loki and then the Valkyrie and then back to Thor. And then he did it again, it had became a cycle and it was absolutely fantastic to onlookers.

They arrived in the lounge room and everyone took a seat. Steve gestured for Thor to start his story.

“It started two years ago, I was looking for Infinity Stones and ended up imprisoned by Surtur. Then I had this occurring dream,” he paused for dramatic effect (Brunhilde rolled her eyes), “It was Ragnarok.”

—-

It took three hours and sixteen and a half minutes to explain the events of Sakaar, Asgard and Hela, and the events of the Accords (though the second was brief because no one really wanted to talk about it). Rhodey knows this because he timed it, because more important than what they learned, it’s the longest Peter has gone without talking. It’s rather impressive.

“By the way, this is Peter,” Tony announced, with a gesture to Peter.

Now Rhodey knew why Peter had been quiet for so long. Peter gaped for a moment then it all spilled out, “OH MY GOD. Oh my God. Okay, wow. You’re Thor, that’s so cool. You can control thunder, you’re like immortal and you’re literally the coolest. I can’t believe Mjolnir got destroyed. I wanted to see it. Can Shuri and I make you another one? And holy crap you’re Bruce Banner. Wow the Bruce Banner, you’re the most renowned scientist, like, ever. You’re amazing, I love your work. My teacher has your picture on her wall of amazing scientists. Also I read all of your papers, I tried some of your theories. I even blew up part of my lab.” Peter sighed, “It was so cool.” 

There was a pause and everyone tried to catch up with what Peter was saying, but Peter was too busy fanboying to notice, “I’m Peter by the way. Also Spider-Man, but that’s not as cool as you guys so whatever.”

“Okay,” Sam interrupted, “One, why didn’t we get this reception when we met you? Two, how come you tell them your Spider-Man right away, but we had to figure it out?”

Peter shot Sam a dirty look (or an attempt at one), “I wasn’t even up to Loki or Brunhilde yet, man.”

“You don’t even know her,” Tony pointed out.

“Yeah, but I’ve read Norse Mythology. I know about Valkyrie, so I can safely assume she’s incredible.”

Brunhilde grinned, Thor laughed, “She is. I like you young Peter.”

“Oh my god. CanigetaphotowithyouguyssoicansendittoNedplease?” Peter blurted.

Bruce somehow understood what he had said and nodded. Everyone except Peter noticed that Bruce looked far happier than Bruce ever did. Wanda mouthed ‘the Peter Effect’ at Vision, who handed her five dollars that he seemed to pull out of nowhere. Peter handed Tony his phone and jumped over so that he was standing between the three Asgardians and Bruce.

“Pete, close your mouth and smile.”

“But Dad, this is so cool, I’m displaying my amazement.” Peter answered.

The bickering pair missed Bruce’s look of absolute confusion and Thor’s grin widening. Tony snapped a photo of the five of them.

Peter grabbed his phone, mumbled a thanks to everyone and sent the photo to Ned. What couldn’t have even been five seconds later he was getting a call from Ned.

“I’ll be right back,” Peter announced, then he walked out of the room with his phone already at his ear.

Bruce rubbed his temples, “Alright, I know we think it’s been two years, but if we’re wrong please tell us. Because,” he pointed to the door, “There’s no way Tony has a sixteen year old son.”

Everyone stared at him in silence, some people very obviously trying not to laugh. Luckily for Bruce, Thor was also slightly confused.

“Why did you not introduce us to your son before now? Surely he was born before two years ago.” Thor asked.

Now Sam and Rhodey were laughing.

“Seriously,” Bruce continued. “How long have we been gone for?”

“God,” Tony groaned, “It’s like you all think I’m super irresponsible,” (Nat nodded), “How many people are going to think Peter is mine biologically? How many times am I going to have to explain this? How many people are going to think I kept a child secret for sixteen years?” Tony sighed, “Sorry Brucie Bear, I only met Peter like two years. Even so he is most definitely my son.”

“Yeah, he basically adopted Peter,” Rhodey added.

Peter walked back into the room, as though he had been summoned, and dropped down next to Tony. Bruce and Thor didn’t get to ask for further explanation because a shout from the kitchen beat them to it.

“WHY IS THERE EGG ON THE KITCHEN FLOOR?” Pepper shouted.

Steve and Peter made eye contact and Steve bought a finger to his lips to tell Peter not to say anything. Peter nodded, he wouldn’t wish an angry Pepper upon anyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating sooner, things got really busy around Christmas!  
> That said, I hope everyone who was celebrating something this holiday season enjoyed themselves.  
> Anyway, thanks for everyone’s support and I hope you enjoyed the chapter.


	6. +1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Art loser is Michelle and Computer loser is Ned, but you probably figured that out.

People’s rooms often became a mess when they were upset and didn’t leave. Peter’s wasn’t. Well, no more than normal. MJ sat in the chair beside his desk and Ned sat on the bed next to Peter. Despite being in the same room, they were having their conversation over text.

_Computer loser: How do we cheer him up?_

_Art loser: He’s your best friend_

_Computer loser: I thought you came to help_

_Art loser: I did, but when you said he was upset I figured it was got-a-B-on-a-test upset not Peter-possibly-has-separation-anxiety upset_

_Art loser: Plus I said that literal days ago_

“What if he doesn’t like me anymore?” Peter whined into his bed, which he was laying face down on.

Ned pat his back and Michelle rolled her eyes, “You know you’re pathetic right?” She asked.

It was the third day in a row Peter had been like this, and MJ couldn’t believe Ned was still so calm with him. Sure, she felt for Peter, but he was definitely freaking out too much. Tony wasn’t going to suddenly hate him just because he had been away for a month. Peter hadn’t been that bad at the start of Tony’s business trip, but now he had suddenly decided to get upset about it. MJ was pretty sure it was just because no one knew when Tony was getting back. 

That was why MJ and Ned were there. They wanted to cheer Peter up. Unfortunately he seemed determined to be upset. He hadn’t smiled the whole time he and Ned built Lego, he refused to watch Star Trek, wouldn’t go to the park and he was currently only moving to get a biscuit from beside him. MJ had decided not to show him her drawing of him in crisis (even though it was one of her best works), because it would probably upset him more.

“Hey, we could-” she was cut off by Ned, who had practically begun to squeal like an excited little kid.

Ned passed Peter his phone, “Hello Mr. Dr. Banner Mr. Hulk sir.”

Then he did what MJ and Ned had both thought impossible, he smiled. Peter, in his apparent excitement, also forgot how to use a phone because he began to nod at whatever Dr. Banner was saying. Peter put the phone down.

“Peter, you have Bruce Banner’s number,” Ned rushed out, “This is the coolest thing that’s ever happened to me!”

Peter grinned, “Yeah, and Dad just got home.”

“Are you going to go to the Compound now?” MJ questioned.

“Are you guys okay with that?” Peter asked guiltily.

“Yeah of course,” Ned nodded.

They just wanted Peter to be happy. If that meant going immediately, so be it. It meant MJ and Ned had a plate of choc chip biscuits to share between themselves.

“Okay, I’ll see you guys at school, thanks so much for everything!”

And with that Peter snatched up his suit out of his bag, and put it on. He was swinging out of the window a moment later. In his giddiness he swung straight into the corner of a neighbouring building. When no comment making fun of him came from MJ, Ned knew something was wrong.

He turned to face MJ. Her jaw was tight and she stared at the window Peter had disappeared through.

It took him a moment, “MJ,” he said carefully, “You knew didn’t you? I mean, we thought you knew Peter was Spider-Man.”

Her left eye twitched, “Yeah. Yeah, of course I knew. Didn’t think Peter was just being weird. I mean, he can’t keep secrets right?”

—-

Tony had introduced everyone to the surprise guest he brought back with him. Rhodey had immediately begun to question him, after all, he had waited years to meet this kid.

“Where’s Peter?” Tony asked. He sounded disappointed, he had probably wanted Peter to be there when he got back. But in that case he really should have told everyone when he was getting back.

“I’ve called him,” Bruce said.

Thor, who stood by the window, pointed out at something, “Is that the young Starkson?”

Everyone looked out the window just in time to see Peter swing straight into a tree. The others would never find out, but that was the sixth thing Peter had hit on the way. His coordination (and Spidey Sense) failed when he was excited.

“Real smooth,” Sam mumbled.

Tony sighed as Peter immediately got back up and continued to swing. Tony walked over and opened the window. Peter, after he had swung the rest of the way to the Compound, flew straight through it. He ripped his mask off and bounced into Tony’s arm and gave him a huge hug.

“I missed you,” he mumbled.

“Me too, kiddo, me too.”

It was sweet to see both of them so happy. The other Avengers had had to deal with an unusually quiet Peter whenever he visited over the last month and none of them were very fond of seeing Peter upset. Over Tony’s shoulder Peter saw the other teenager in the room. He was about Peter’s age and they quickly made eye contact.

Peter broke the hug, “So you’re my replacement?” 

“So you’re my replacement?” The other boy repeated.

Peter threw Tony a very over-exaggerated pout, but in his worry Tony missed the over-exaggerated part. Why did the boys seem so hostile? They had to get along, right? Tony didn’t know what he’d do if they didn’t, because there was no version of this meeting that he’d imagined where they didn’t get along. His kids had to get along.

The other adults looked between each other. The Compound was about to get very awkward if the two teenagers who called Tony dad didn’t get along. They’d only just been introduced to the other teen, and he seemed nice. Vision crossed his fingers, a trait he had picked up from Wanda, and hoped the kids would sought this out. For Tony’s sake.

Then Peter broke into a grin, “You’re Harley right, the one who made the potato gun?”

“Yeah,” Harley said, “And you’re Peter? You made a machine that screams at him,” he nodded to Tony, “When he doesn’t asleep.”

Peter nodded and Harley held out his hand. Peter eagerly high fived the other boy. The adults seemed shocked, and Tony let out a very audible sigh of relief.

“So we’re the adopted science kids?” Harley asked.

“Oh thank god,” Peter grinned and gestures at the Avengers, “They all thought I was Tony’s secret biological son.”

Harley laughed, “They thought I was too.”

Rhodey put up his hands, “Hey I didn’t think that this time.”

Tony snorted, “Only because I told you about him in 2013.”

Rhodey shrugged. Wanda grinned cheekily, “In my defence we heard about the playboy Tony Stark even in Sokovia.”

Tony gasped and jokingly shook his head at her.

Ignoring the adults bickering, Harley threw an arm around Peter’s shoulders, “This is great though, I’ve always wanted a brother.”

“Oh you should meet Tony’s other children,” Peter said.

“He’s other children?” Harley all but cackled.

At the same time Tony asked, “My other children?”

“Oh yeah,” Peter said, “Dum-E, U and Butterfingers.”

No one else had a chance to say anything, because the teens ran off immediately. They were clearly headed for the labs, obviously content in leaving their father-figure to have a heart attack because _his other children? What the hell Peter?_

“So everyone else saw that interaction turn around without any warning, right?” Sam asked.

Steve looked at the billionaire, “How many science children have you adopted?”

“Just Peter and Harley.” Tony grinned, “And Bruce.” And with that Tony ran off after his children.

Steve and Nat looked at each other, they weren’t completely convinced Tony didn’t have a vault of secret science children.

—-

When Rhodey went to collect Tony, Harley and Peter for dinner the lab was, surprisingly, still in one piece. Tony sat back in his chair and watched Peter and Harley who were messing around with an old Iron Man suit.

Rhodey met Tony’s eyes and raised a brow. Tony just grinned. Rhodey couldn’t help but mirror his friends expression, because this, this is what Tony had always wanted - even if he wouldn’t admit it.

“It’s dinner time nerds,” Rhodey announced.

Harley picked up a plastic gun out of Dum-E’s grip and frowned, “But we were going to serve potatoes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wowie, this is gonna be long.  
> So first, I want to say thank you so much for all the support on this fic. I can’t express how much I appreciate it.  
> I hope you’ve all enjoyed the new year so far. I have, but it was kind of weird to have to change the release date of this chapter to 2019.  
> Next, I couldn’t resist sharing some notable mistakes that came with writing this chapter:  
> I almost wrote ‘unpossible’  
> ‘Peter snatched up his shit out of his bag’ rather than ‘his suit’  
> ‘And with that Tony ran off after his feet.’ Children, I meant children. How does one mix up feet and children?  
> Also, you may have noticed this now says out of seven chapters. I’m adding a bonus chapter, it’s small but when I wrote this chapter I couldn’t resist writing the Avengers reactions to meeting Harley.  
> I just love Harley so much, I can’t wait to see him in Avengers Endgame and future fics in this series.


	7. Bonus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, I don’t remember Harley’s age ever being mentioned and I couldn’t find it online. Wikipedia said he was 10 in Iron Man 3, but I don’t trust them. Ty Simpkins is 17 so I decided to make Harley around the same age, but if someone knows how old he should be let me know.  
> This is set during the last chapter.

Tony’s business trip had been long and boring. It was in and out of meetings with hardly anytime between. And with Pepper halfway around the world for press conferences the time they had to talk was limited. The highlight of every day was when he called Peter, as well as the occasions he got to call the others at the Compound. It had been bitterly disappointing to have to leave so soon after having Bruce and Thor back.

A bright side to the long, boring trip presented itself in the final week. The last meetings were in Tennessee, so Tony got the opportunity to meet up with someone he had recently gotten back in touch with.

In true Tony fashion he had showed up at the Keener household unannounced. Mrs. Keener and Harley were shocked and Harley’s little sister didn’t seem to care. Tony didn’t know how it happened but he had ended up returning to the Compound with Harley.

When they arrived at the Compound they were met by Steve, Sam, Wanda, Nat, Rhodey, Vision, Thor and Bruce. Loki and Valkyrie were in Norway, where they and Thor had been going back and forth between, since the Asgardians were settled there.

Tony couldn’t deny that he was a little disappointed that Peter wasn’t there. He’d been hoping to see him.

When Tony walked in with another child, most of the Avengers could do nothing but stare in surprise. They had so many questions: how did he keep finding these children? Where were they coming from? How many more would there be? Most importantly, why did he never feel the need to tell anyone about them?

It was Rhodey’s greeting that convinced the others that this boy could be Tony’s son. 

He stepped forward, “You must be Harley, I’ve been waiting years to meet you.”

“Yes,” Tony announced, “This is Harley. He’s almost seventeen and he’s from Tennessee,” then he nudged the boy, “Don’t let it get to your head that he knows you.”

Harley rolled his eyes, “I won’t Dad, I’m not you.”

Well that about settled it for the others. Tony had known Harley for years and Harley called him Dad. There was no way Tony could have found and grown close to two children that were in no way related to him, right?

“Well,” Sam said, “I knew you couldn’t survive all those years without a kid.”

“I’m glad to meet your son Tony. Why didn’t you tell us about his one?” Thor asked.

“Hello, Harley. It’s nice to see you again,” Vision said.

“Woah, JARVIS got a body!”

So Harley had met Tony before the Ultron fiasco? There better be a reason they hadn’t heard about him.

“Seriously Tony, do you have a vault of kids or something?” Steve asked.

“I’m more interested in knowing how he keeps them secret,” Nat said.

“Me too,” Wanda agreed.

Bruce kept quiet, he couldn’t place it, but he was sure he’d heard something about Harley before. Plus, Tony looked somewhat annoyed with his friends.

“Uh no, Harley is not mine biologically. I met him years back, you know when I threatened a terrorist and everyone thought I was dead?” Tony asked.

“Yeah, that was pretty wild.” Nat said.

“Yeah, well Harley was the only one who actually helped me while you all sat around.”

Tony shook his head, had they really not learned from their mistake with Peter?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, I know I always say it, but I appreciate everyone’s support on these so much. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I also want to give a special thanks to the people who comment on every chapter - I’m always looking out for your comments and it means so much that you all continue to support these stories.  
> There is more fics coming in this series, but I’m taking a small break for the rest of my holidays. This means it will be a few weeks before I post any more fics, but I will still be active on my Instagram (@possiblyobsessed).

**Author's Note:**

> So, this chapter is set before the other fics in the series (which I recommend you read so this fic makes more sense). Later chapters will be set after the other fics.  
> Thanks once again to everyone who has supported these fics! I appreciate you all so much, especially the people who have left comments on all the chapters - seeing them always makes me smile.  
> Also:  
> Captain Marvel trailer #2: I screamed. A masterpiece.  
> Avengers Endgame trailer: I cried. A masterpiece.  
> In all seriousness though, I’m devastated. Save my poor baby Tony. and LET☀️THE☀️SUN☀️SHINE☀️ON☀️THOR☀️AGAIN


End file.
